Last year Sweden’s Supreme Court announced its decision not to grant leave to appeal in the long-running criminal case against the founders of The Pirate Bay. This meant that the previously determined jail sentences and fines handed out to Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm and Carl Lundström would stand. Sunde and Neij weren’t prepared to accept this decision and the pair decided to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights (EHCR). After almost a year the EHCR handed down its decision today, and it was not the news the Pirate Bay founders wanted to hear. The European Court refused to take on the case after concluding that the Swedish courts had already made the right decisions. The EHCR recognizes that the Swedish verdict interferes with the right to freedom of expression, but ruled that this was necessary to protect the rights of copyright holders. …